Illiestra
About Illiestra (Eye-li-es-t{r}a) was first found washed up upon the shores near Alinor, in the Summerset Isles. She was found by a fisherman, tucked inside of a basket along with a note that read, "This child is special, but it is too dangerous in the Imperial City for her. Keep her safe." The bewildered fisherman took the baby home to his wife. The couple had tried to have children before, but were unsuccessful. Taking this as a sign from the gods, the couple named her Illiestra, to reflect upon the fact she was an Imperial with an elvish upbringing. Now, Illiestra is part of the Imperial Legion, where she serves the Red Diamond to protect all the people of Tamriel. Personal Life Illiestra devotes a lot of her time to prayer. Most of her life revolves around the divines, as she is a very devout believer. However, Illiestra does enjoy many activities, her favourite being combat sparring. She incorporates prayer into her fighting style, and it can be seen when the divines work directly through her. Illiestra also enjoys blacksmithing, and her elvish upbringing caused her to become rather fond of the art of enchanting. Additionally, Illiestra can usually be found reading when not doing anything else. She mostly reads books on warfare, tactics, and combat, but it is not uncommon for her to pick up a romance novel and get lost in it. History Illiestra grew up in Alinor in a fairly modest household. She learned at a far accelerated pace than was normal due to her Aldmeri upbringing. During her early childhood, she became fascinated by the knights she would see within the city. She idolized them, and would sneak off to practice swordplay the best she knew how - with a large stick against a tree. She decided to join a temple when she was 12, where she served as an altar attendant. However, she also had access to the temple library, and started reading through whatever book she could find. During this time, she gained a lot of theoretical knowledge on a variety of topics, including: tactics, history, religion, and art. When she was 14, she enlisted with the Aldmeri army. There, she learned very quickly how to handle herself in a fight, and grew very skilled at fighting very quickly. Many said she was a natural when it came to combat, and her officers were consistently proud of her accomplishments. She advanced through the ranks quickly, becoming a 2nd lieutenant by the time she was 17. The only bad thing her superiors had to say was that she was often overconfident, and would occasionally let the praise get to her head. Not long after she was formally comissioned, she met Bjorn Jorgesson, a nord from Skyrim. Bjorn was a travelling warrior, seeking to become the best warrior in all of Tamriel. He had visited many places, learned of their combat styles, and adapted to include them in his fighting style. When initially they met, the Dominion had accepted his offer to train with them in exchange for 4 years of military service. Illiestra was aware of who Bjorn was, but had never met until they came across each other in the barracks one morning. Bjorn, having heard the rumors of a talented Imperial, instantly recognized her as well. The two of them talked for a bit, then agreed to have a duel later in the day, each wanting to see how good the other was. Illiestra had to go all out, and get aid from the divines in order to narrowly defeat Bjorn. Bjorn, never having witnessed someone use divine power in a battle before, was impressed by Illiestra's cunning use of that resource. The two became fast friends, and frequently went on missions together. The superiors generally preferred to put the two together, because they would continually try to out-do each other while on mission, and had very high success rates. It was also noted that Bjorn's pressence helped keep Illiestra in check, so her reckless behaviour subsided quite a lot. When she was 18, her and Bjorn were comissioned by the Queen to serve as hands. The two of them took this duty very seriously, and served their queen faithfully. However, when she was 19, Bjorn and her were ambushed and sacrificed to Molag Bal. Journeying through Coldharbour, they somehow managed to return to Tamriel. Soon after, she regrouped with another eye, and thet three of them returned to Ayrenn. Due to the planemeld crisis now upon them, Ayrenn appointed Bjorn and Illiestra to serve as commanders in a splinter task force of the Eyes. This splinter group was to be political as well as militaristic, as it was to encompany all races of the Dominion as equals, but still be lethal enough to take out any threat. After some brainstorming, Bjorn and Illiestra decided to name the group Ayrenn's Pride. Ayrenn's Pride had several successful missions initially, and worked tirelessly to help end the planemeld crisis. However, while on a mission led by Illiestra, they suffered a terrible defeat. Having suffered so sound a defeat, the group was forced to disband. During this time, Bjorn and Illiestra drifted seperate ways. Bjorn, presumably, to find new combat techniques to master. Illiestra returned to the queen to inform her of the defeat. The queen, upset, decided to scrap the idea entirely, and offered to reinstate Illiestra to the eyes. Illiestra, however, refused. Still bitter over her first major defeat, Illiestra decided to instead seek power on her own, so that she would never be defeated again. After the planemeld crisis, Illiestra's search for power led her across Tamriel, searching for ways to become stronger. Growing ever more agitated at not finding a definitive answer, her search eventually brought her to vampirism. While her power did grow under this curse, it still was not enough. Unsatiable, Illiestra became increasingly ruthless and obsessed with becoming stronger. One day, while hunting, she came across her old friend Bjorn. Blinded by bloodlust, Illiestra attacked Bjorn. Bjorn, having fought vampires before, knew exactly what to do to defend himself. Illiestra, trying to draw upon her divine powers once more to defeat him, found that the divines do not look favourably upon vampires, refusing to send her aid. Bjorn easily defeated Illiestra, but rather than kill her, he let her live, but left telling her, "Look at how weak you've become. I know what you are. Seeking power with no goal has led you here. You think you are strong now, but this has only made you weaker. Look at you. Once, you would have beaten me in combat, probably easily. Now, you are not even good enough to stain my axe with your blood. Begone, wretch." Illiestra fled, but Bjorn's words stung far more than any sword. While it was a difficult path to walk, Illiestra eventually cured herself of vampirism. Afterwards, she spent several years back home, praying for forgiveness, assisting her parents, doing smithing and repair work around town, and generally living a quiet life. However, hearing the call of the Imperial Legion, Illiestra's blood began to boil once more, and so she set out to enlist, this time with the goal of protecting all of Tamriel. Medals * Heart of Stone * Medal of Bravery * Winterborn Medal (Skyrim Campaign) Relations *'Vindur Greywatch' **Adoptive father *'Elondore Greywatch' **Adoptive mother *'Bjorn Jorgesson' **Best friend, helped lead Ayrenn's Pride Gallery Trivia *Illiestra was 16 when she was given her first command, she was also the youngest NCO in the aldmeri army. References